Medieval Chronicles - Foreword (original) (raw)
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2010
The appearance of a new História de Portugal (Esfera dos Livros, 2009) always arouses some expectations, and even curiosity, particularly amongst the community of historians, and above all when one can still consider the last two similar initiatives produced in this area to be quite recent affairs. I am talking, in this latter instance, about the two collective works, one edited by Joel Serrão and A. H. de Oliveira Marques, which is not yet completed, 2 and the other by José Mattoso, 3 for the histories written by individuals already date from some time ago. 4 The authors, whom I wish to begin by congratulating on their efforts, identify themselves as the representatives of a new generation of historians whose responsibility it is to transmit the latest novelties produced by the recent efforts of enormous and wide-ranging collective research: "It was time for the historians from the new generations (without forgetting what they owe to their predecessors) to attempt to place the History that is being written nowadays in touch with the general public," is what is stated in the "Prologue," 5 even though shortly afterwards, and in my view somewhat overly optimistically, it is said that "the reader that we have envisaged for this book is a demanding one" (I-II). In fact, I do not share the same faith as the authors in identifying the vast majority of the "general public" as demanding readers ... Having been invited to take part at this conference in the panel dedicated to the study of the Middle Ages, I should like to dedicate my first reflections to some of the statements contained in the presentation or "Prologue" of a work that, I should like to
Early Medieval Europe, 2011
Book reviews Économie rurale et société dans l'Europe franque (VI e-IX e siècles). Tome 1: Fondements matériels, échanges et lien social. By Jean-Pierre Devroey. Paris: Editions Belin. 2003. 391 pp. + 31 tables and diagrams, 25 b/w figures, 11 maps, 9 graphs. ISBN 2 7011 2618 5. Puissants et misérables. Système social et monde paysan dans l'Europe des Francs (VI e-IX e siècles). By Jean-Pierre Devroey. Brussels: Académie royale de Belgique. 2006. 727 pp. + 1 colour figure, 8 maps, 28 tables and diagrams. €55. ISBN 2 8031 0227 7.